Donald Trump, the president of the United States, once again threatened Iran’s regime and said:
“They can try, but it’s going to take them a long time to come back. But if they do want to come back, and they want to come back without a deal, then we’re going to obliterate that one, too.”
During a meeting with reporters at the White House on Thursday evening, December 11 2025, Trump described the attack on the Iranian regime’s nuclear facilities as a foundation for peace. He said this attack resulted in the most complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear capacity, which made peace possible because previously everyone feared Iran, and now they do not.
Referring to the heavy damage suffered by Iran, Trump said: “They can probably never start there again. If they ever started, they’d probably choose a new site.”
Hours before Trump’s remarks, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran’s regime, in a meeting with a group of state-aligned eulogists, referred to repeated comments about “the renewed occurrence of military conflict in Iran” and described them as “a deliberate act to create concern and doubt among citizens.”
He also added that the United States stands at the center of this wide and active front, with some European countries surrounding it.
Renewed threat against Iran’s regime
The U.S. president directly threatened Iran’s regime, saying Washington is able to disable Iran’s missiles very quickly.
Referring to the ongoing regional war, Trump described all wars as brutal and destructive and called the battle over Iran’s nuclear capabilities a turning point in regional developments, saying: “This attack was the most complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. This war was a devastating blow… The blow they received was so severe that I don’t think they’ll want to try again.”
Trump again emphasized that “no other country” was capable of carrying out such an attack and described the United States as having “the best weapons and the best military in the world.” He added:
“If Iran had not been so effectively disabled, none of our allies in the region would have been able to reach the agreements we have now.”
Praising the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, he said Iran “is no longer the country it once was” and that its standing “has dramatically declined,” although he warned that Tehran may attempt to revive its nuclear program in the future: “They can try, but it will take a long time to get back to where they were.”
Iran’s regime’s desire for a deal with the U.S.
In another part of his remarks, Trump claimed that Iran’s regime is now willing to negotiate with his administration and said:
“They very much want to make a deal with me. And I also want to make a deal with them if possible. Before the bombing, we were reasonably close to making a deal.”
Trump described the twelve-day war as a “missed opportunity” for Iran’s regime and added: “They could have made a deal where there were no casualties or buildings destroyed. We would have targeted their nuclear facilities and that would have been the end of it. They could have made a great deal, but they missed that opportunity. And now they want to make another one.”
Over the past six months, the war of words between Trump and Iran’s regime has continued, with Trump repeatedly threatening to strike Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities again.
On October 20, during a joint press conference with the prime minister of Australia, Trump described the airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities as one of the largest military operations in history. He said war is a strange thing: bad things may happen, but sometimes it produces good outcomes.
That same day, Iran’s regime supreme leader dismissed Trump’s comments about “bombing Iran’s nuclear industry and wiping it out” as mere “fantasy.”
Another major point of contention between Khamenei and Trump has been negotiations with the United States. Trump consistently claims Iran wants to resume talks, while Khamenei rejects any form of negotiation with the U.S.
On November 14, before departing for Florida for the weekend, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iran, like many others seeking talks with the U.S., wants to negotiate a deal.
Earlier, during a November 6 meeting with Central Asian leaders, Trump had said Iran’s regime asked the White House whether sanctions could be lifted. He stressed that he is willing to listen to such requests and that lifting sanctions is possible.
On November 17, one day before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s trip to the United States, a letter from Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran’s regime, was sent to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi state news agency reported that the letter had reached bin Salman but did not disclose its contents.
Later, Reuters, quoting several informed sources, wrote that Tehran had asked Riyadh to persuade Trump to revive nuclear negotiations.
Payam Tabarsi, an infectious disease specialist, referring to the rise in influenza cases in Iran, said that the number of critically ill and hospitalized patients has increased and that the stock of influenza vaccines has also been depleted.
On Thursday, December 10, Tabarsi told the state-run Mehr News Agency that the most effective way to prevent influenza is “observing hygiene protocols” and that people at risk should avoid crowded places.
He added, “If people can obtain the vaccine, it is not too late to get vaccinated, and there is still time until March 2026. However, given the current vaccine shortage, the main emphasis is on hygiene and reducing exposure to the virus.”
Homayoun Sameh Najafabadi, a member of the Health Commission of the Iranian regime’s parliament, said on December 10 that the high cost of the influenza vaccine and the lack of insurance coverage prevented many people from accessing it, leading to “this situation.”
He added, “The fatal risk of influenza has become higher than that of COVID-19. In other words, the lethality of influenza is very high.”
In recent weeks, coinciding with the peak of severe influenza and rising air pollution in major cities, citizens have been facing a new wave of respiratory infections.
Hossein Kermanpour, head of public relations for Iran’s regime Ministry of Health, announced on December 10 that 101 people have died due to the new wave of influenza in the country, “most of whom had not been vaccinated.”
At the same time, Ghobad Moradi, head of the Communicable Diseases Management Center at Iran’s regime Ministry of Health, said that the share of circulating respiratory infections has “reached about 16 to 17%,” a figure he says is “above the 10% global warning threshold,” indicating that the country has entered an influenza peak and many provinces have exceeded the alert level.
Widespread influenza wave in the country
Ahmad Mehri, an epidemiologist and public health expert, announced on December 11: “The country is facing a widespread influenza wave, with more than 30% of respiratory samples testing positive, three to four times the warning threshold defined by the surveillance system, and almost all provinces are affected by this wave.”
He warned, “The main concern in this wave is the consequences of critical illness and the risk of death. Children, the elderly, pregnant women, patients with diabetes or hypertension, cancer patients, and those taking immunosuppressive drugs are at higher risk than others.”
Meanwhile, the simultaneous severe air pollution alongside the influenza peak has doubled citizens’ concerns.
Minoo Mohraz, an infectious disease specialist, said on December 11 that air pollution alone does not cause influenza but can exacerbate the symptoms of respiratory illnesses.
She added, “Patients with allergies, asthma, and respiratory problems are more vulnerable under these conditions, and the circulation of the influenza virus can be more dangerous at such times.”
On December 8, Mohraz also told the state-run newspaper Shargh: “The current influenza wave is more severe than previous waves, and with the increase in cases, the likelihood of mortality and lethality also exists.”
Drug shortages and difficult days ahead
Mohammad Abdehzadeh, head of the Health Economy Commission of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, told the state-run ILNA news agency on December 11: “The drug shortage in the country is not a one-day or two-day problem, nor is it just this year or last year; it has existed for various reasons, and its roots are clear.”
He attributed the drug shortage to three factors: “lack of foreign currency resources,” “shortage of rials,” and “untimely drug pricing,” emphasizing, “These three reasons have always caused chronic drug shortages in past years.”
Abdehzadeh said pharmaceutical companies face difficulties in obtaining foreign currency and collecting their rial claims, and if these problems are not resolved, the last three months of the year will be “difficult days” for the country’s drug market.
He continued: “Currently, the total claims of pharmaceutical companies from both government and private companies and pharmacies have reached over 1.5 quadrillion rials (approximately 1.25 billion dollars). This means that nearly half of the pharmaceutical market’s turnover consists of claims that producers have not been able to collect in rials.”
Abdehzadeh also announced on December 10 that the severe drug shortage will continue in the last quarter of the year (from January to March 2026), and producers and importers are queuing daily to address issues with drug imports at the Central Bank and Ministry of Health.
While the widespread influenza wave affects children, the elderly, and high-risk groups, repeated warnings and reports about drug shortages and high prices have cast a heavy shadow over patients’ lives and the healthcare system.
BRUSSELS — On December 10, 2025, the European Parliament served as the stage for a critical convergence of Iranian opposition leaders and Western policymakers. Marking International Human Rights Day, a high-profile conference hosted in Brussels brought together Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), alongside a coalition of former ministers, lawmakers, and international legal experts.
The proceedings focused on a stark dual reality: the Iranian regime’s unprecedented escalation of executions and the simultaneous consolidation of an organized resistance movement. Speakers detailed a human rights crisis that has surpassed historical benchmarks while outlining a “Third Option” for the international community—a policy framework that rejects both appeasement and foreign military intervention, relying instead on the Iranian people to dismantle the religious dictatorship.
https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-resistance/eu-lawmakers-and-international-figures-call-for-accountability-in-iran-and-recognition-of-the-ncri-as-a-democratic-alternative/
A Regime “Hanging Human Rights”
The conference opened with a grim accounting of the regime’s recent violence. In her keynote address, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi presented statistics indicating that the clerical regime has accelerated its machinery of death to levels not seen in decades. She revealed that in November alone, the judiciary carried out “335 executions.”
Mrs. Rajavi described a government that “hangs human rights every single day,” highlighting the plight of 18 political prisoners currently sentenced to death solely for their affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). She argued that this intensification of violence is a symptom of desperation rather than strength. “Never before have the mullahs been so much in need of intensifying repression because never before have they felt so close to being overthrown,” she told the assembly.
Human Rights Day 2025 – Iran: Human Rights, Accountability & the Role of the EU
🧵Kumi Naidoo, South African human rights and climate justice activist: "I want to offer a six-point plan to the European Union… 1) Demand an immediate moratorium on executions in Iran. 2) Establish…
Dominique Attias, Chair of the European Lawyers Foundation, characterized the executions as a “deliberate strategy of terror.” She pointed to the regime’s systematic destruction of mass-grave sites—desecrating some 9,500 graves from the 1980s—as an “ultimate profanation” designed to erase evidence of past atrocities.
Stephen Rapp, the former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, provided a legal context for these actions. Noting that nearly 2,000 executions have been recorded this year, Rapp classified the violence as ongoing crimes against humanity. “The pattern we see today echoes the logic of 1988,” Rapp observed, referring to the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. He insisted that Western powers must ensure that the mislabeling of the PMOI as terrorists, which previously hamstrung the opposition, is “never again” repeated.
Demanding a Paradigm Shift in EU Policy
A central theme of the event was the inadequacy of current European policies toward Tehran. Former MEP Struan Stevenson, who moderated the session, dismissed the utility of limited military strikes against the regime’s infrastructure.
“Airstrikes… cannot uproot the epicenter of instability—the clerical dictatorship in Tehran,” Stevenson asserted. He urged the European Union to “end appeasement,” calling for the immediate closure of Iranian embassies used for repression and the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
This security concern was reinforced by MEP Antonio López-Istúriz White, Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Mexico. Referencing the assassination attempt against former EP Vice-President Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid, he warned that “no normalization of EU-Iran relations is acceptable” while transnational repression continues. López-Istúriz White cautioned that Tehran’s proxy networks pose a direct security threat that extends beyond the Middle East into Europe itself.
The “Third Option” and Resistance Units
Amidst the condemnation, speakers presented the NCRI’s “Third Option” as the only viable path to stability. Former MEP Dorien Rookmaker described the regime as “100 percent pure evil” and advocated for the formal endorsement of Mrs. Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, which envisions a secular, non-nuclear republic with gender equality.
Kumi Naidoo, former Secretary-General of Amnesty International, focused on the demographics driving this movement. He described Iranian women and the Resistance Units as “the heartbeat of the nationwide struggle.” Citing the case of Zahra Tabari, a 67-year-old engineer sentenced to death for holding a banner reading “Woman, Resistance, Freedom,” Naidoo argued that such extreme repression reveals the regime’s “political weakness” and fear of its own citizens.
Rejecting the Shah and the Mullahs
A critical distinction made throughout the proceedings was the forward-looking nature of the opposition. Dr. Sina Dashti, an Iranian-Swedish physician, offered testimony regarding the generational struggle against tyranny. He emphasized that Iranian society “rejects both monarchy and theocracy,” noting that the Shah’s suppression of democratic forces had paved the way for the current religious dictatorship.
Mrs. Rajavi reinforced this stance, stating that the Iranian people seek a democratic republic that rejects both the “Shah’s and the mullahs’ autocracies.” The consensus among speakers was that the expanding Resistance Units demonstrate a nationwide will to replace theocratic rule with free elections and the separation of religion and state.
Legal Urgency
The event concluded with urgent calls for legal intervention to protect those currently on death row. Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association, warned that the regime is actively trying to “bury evidence, silence victims, and entrench impunity.” He urged European nations to utilize universal jurisdiction to prosecute regime officials, emphasizing that perpetrators must not believe “time is on their side.”
International human rights lawyer Azadeh Zabeti underscored the immediacy of the crisis. She warned that the execution of the 18 PMOI supporters would amount to “deliberate political killings by the state,” calling on the international community to recognize the NCRI’s roadmap as the definitive solution to the crisis.
BRUSSELS — On December 10, 2025, the European Parliament became the focal point for a significant shift in the discourse regarding Iran. Marking International Human Rights Day, a high-profile conference brought together lawmakers from across the political spectrum, former prime ministers, and human rights advocates to address the escalating crisis in Tehran.
Hosted in Brussels, the event featured a keynote address by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The gathering served as a platform for European policymakers to declare that the era of accommodating the clerical regime has ended, urging the European Union to officially recognize the Iranian people’s right to overthrow the religious dictatorship and establish a secular democracy.
An “Exceptional Moment”
The conference opened against the backdrop of a regime described by speakers as being in free-fall. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi characterized the current situation as an “exceptional moment,” defined by economic collapse, regional isolation, and an irreversible crisis of legitimacy for the ruling mullahs.
“The regime has only one trajectory: downfall,” Rajavi stated. She argued that the collapse of Tehran’s regional “Axis of Resistance” and the nationwide expansion of protests have left the Supreme Leader devoid of any capacity for reform. However, she warned that this weakness has driven the regime toward unprecedented brutality.
Rajavi reported that the judiciary carried out “335 executions” in November alone, a figure she cited as proof that the regime now “hangs human rights every single day.” She highlighted the immediate threat facing 18 political prisoners currently on death row, sentenced solely for their support of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
“Never before have the mullahs been so much in need of intensifying repression because never before have they felt so close to being overthrown,” Rajavi told the assembly.
The Collapse of Appeasement
A recurring theme among the speakers was the categorical failure of Western diplomatic strategies that prioritize engagement over accountability. Former Belgian Prime Minister and MEP Guy Verhofstadt was blunt, stating that years of appeasement have “achieved nothing at all.”
Verhofstadt pointed to the killing of more than 2,600 protesters in the last sixteen months as evidence that the regime is immune to moderation. He urged the EU to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization and to implement sanctions specifically tied to the execution of political prisoners.
Italian Senator and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi reinforced this view, suggesting that the regime’s brutality—exemplified by the killing of 46 prisoners in just five days—is a symptom of extreme weakness. “We have to admit that it is impossible” to moderate the regime, Renzi concluded. He argued that the only viable path forward is to support the democratic movement led by Rajavi, whose credibility is now recognized both inside and outside Iran.
The “Third Option”: No to Shah, No to Mullahs
With diplomacy failing and war undesirable, the conference coalesced around the NCRI’s “Third Option”: regime change enacted by the Iranian people. Crucially, speakers emphasized that this movement rejects all forms of dictatorship, past and present.
“Iranian society will neither return to the Shah’s dictatorship nor remain trapped under clerical rule,” Rajavi declared.
MEP Leoluca Orlando highlighted the PMOI’s sixty-year history of resistance, noting that the organization fought against the Shah’s SAVAK just as it fights against the mullahs’ IRGC today. He stated that this dual rejection demonstrates that Iranians refuse to accept autocracy, “whichever symbol—crown or clerical authority—it carries.”
MEP Pekka Toveri reinforced this, asserting that Iran’s future “is a democratic secular republic.” He warned that the international community must respect the Iranian people’s vision for a future free of hereditary or divine rulers. Toveri also noted that the resistance is not spontaneous; he described the PMOI Resistance Units as “a structural struggle for democratic change” capable of coordinating strikes under lethal surveillance.
Former MEP Ryszard Czarnecki cited specific operations, such as the burning of regime propaganda, as proof that “the Iranian people will not surrender.”
Fears of a New Massacre
The urgency of the session was underscored by fears that Tehran is preparing for a mass purge similar to the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. MEP Francisco Assis warned that the recent surge in death sentences is a harbinger of a “potential new massacre.” He argued that Europe cannot afford to repeat the “failure” of silence that occurred decades ago and called for a suspension of diplomatic relations until executions cease.
MEP Petras Auštrevičius urged the EU to work with the NCRI on universal jurisdiction cases to prosecute regime officials, citing substantial evidence gathered by the UN Fact-Finding Mission.
Former MEP Paulo Casaca concluded the calls for justice by describing the regime’s judges and prosecutors as “criminals against humanity.” He demanded a global blacklist and sanctions against those facilitating the execution spree, arguing that such pressure is essential to strengthen the Iranian people’s struggle “under the leadership of Madam Rajavi.” The consensus in Brussels was clear: the window for ambiguity has closed, and Europe must now align with the organized resistance seeking a democratic republic.
Karim Khojasteh, a political prisoner, was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Rasht on the charge of “baghi” (armed rebellion). Akbar Daneshvarkar, Mohammad Taghavi, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani-Amerian, and Abolhassan Montazer—six other political prisoners—were also sentenced to death again by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, despite their previous death sentences having been overturned.
Khojasteh was sentenced to death on the charge of “baghi” for alleged membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (the country’s largest opposition group), by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht.
According to Article 287 of the Islamic Penal Code, a “baghi” is defined as someone who takes up arms against the “foundations of the Islamic Republic.”
Khoshesteh was arrested on March 13, 2025, at his industrial workshop in Khomam, Gilan Province, and transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht.
He had previously been arrested in July of the same year on the charge of “propaganda against the regime” and was temporarily released on November 29, 2024, after about four and a half months in detention, on bail of 500 million tomans (approximately 5 billion rials).
Karim Khojasteh, a political prisoner, was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court
Daneshvarkar, Taghavi, Alipour, Ghobadi, Bani-Amerian, and Montazer—six political prisoners held in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj—were again sentenced to death. They were tried on the same charge.
These six individuals, who have been imprisoned since autumn and winter 2023, were tried in November 2025 in Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Iman Afshari. On December 7, their new death sentences were formally communicated to their lawyers.
These prisoners had previously been sentenced to death on November 30, 2024, by Afshari on the charge of “baghi through membership in opposition groups.” That ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court in July, and the case was sent to a parallel branch for retrial.
Taghavi is a political prisoner from the 1980s, and Bani-Amerian, Ghobadi, and Alipour have also previously been imprisoned due to their political activities.
Mai Sato, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, called on the regime on November 5—via a post on the social platform X—to halt the execution of these six political prisoners.
She wrote that these individuals are facing execution after a judicial process involving “torture, prolonged solitary confinement, and denial of fair trial rights.”
The regime’s delegation in Geneva issued an official statement in response to Sato, describing the defendants as members of teams linked to the “People’s Mojahedin Organization” and claiming that their judicial process was conducted according to “legal standards,” with defense lawyers present and with “all guarantees of a fair trial.”
Human rights organizations and activists have repeatedly warned in recent years about “show trials” and the violation of fundamental rights of political and ideological detainees in Iran, including the denial of access to a lawyer of their choice.
At present, in addition to prisoners convicted of non-political crimes who are executed daily in Iran’s prisons, around 70 political prisoners nationwide are at risk of having their death sentences confirmed or carried out. A very large number of them have been convicted on accusations of collaboration with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. More than 100 other individuals face the risk of receiving death sentences on similar charges.
The U.S. State Department, noting that Iran’s regime uses executions to instill fear and silence dissent, stated that the world cannot turn a blind eye to the executions taking place in Iran.
تنها در ماه نوامبر، رژیم جمهوری اسلامی دستکم ۲۶۰ نفر را اعدام کرد؛ رقمی که بالاترین تعداد اعدامها در دو دهه اخیر است. با این حال، رژیم جمهوری اسلامی به صورت رسمی تنها دو اعدام را اعلام کرد. امسال، بیش از ۱۵۰۰ نفر در ایران بدون هیچ یا با حداقل روند دادرسی جان خود را از دست داده… pic.twitter.com/73Wsx91hpS
The U.S. State Department emphasized in its statement: “The United States stands with the people of Iran and will continue to condemn these horrific violations.”
The statement said: “In November alone Iran executed at least 260 people, the highest monthly total in more than two decades, while officially announcing only two.”
Iran Human Rights Monitor reported that in 2025 alone, Iran’s regime executed 1,791 people — an unprecedented figure in the past thirty-seven years.
The Islamic Republic has intensified its use of the death penalty to silence dissent and instill fear across society.
Iranian regime authorities hanged 335 prisoners, including 7 women, in November. Two of the victims were publicly executed.
The number of executions this month (November) was more than double the 155 in 2024, three times the 115 in 2023, six times the 57 in 2022, and eleven times the 30 in 2021.
According to NCRI, at Least 36 Prisoners Executed in the Past Three Days.
This brings the number of recorded executions in the first 17 days of the Persian month of Azar (since November 22) to over 200. During the same period, the regime’s judiciary sentenced a political prisoner to death on charges of supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and upheld the death sentences of six others on the same charge.
The rise in the issuance, confirmation, and implementation of death sentences in Iran in recent months has sparked widespread protest both inside and outside the country.
The U.K. Foreign Office called on November 21 for an immediate halt to executions in Iran.
On November 19, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning human rights violations in Iran, with 79 votes in favor and 28 against. This year’s text placed greater emphasis on executions, women’s rights, the suppression of protesters, and transnational repression.
The deputy health minister of Iran’s regime announced that with worsening air pollution, from November 22 to November 29, more than 170,000 people sought emergency care due to cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses.
On December 9, Alireza Raisi stated that emergency visits increased by 20% to 25% during this period. Most of the cases came from eleven provinces and cities such as Arak, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Tabriz, Tehran, Karaj, and Mashhad—areas experiencing the worst air pollution.
The deputy health minister estimated the annual health-related cost of air pollution at about 17 billion dollars and said more than 59,000 deaths each year are linked to pollution.
In recent weeks, air pollution has intensified across various cities in Iran and rising levels of pollutants have pushed air quality in some major cities into unhealthy and, in certain areas, red-alert conditions.
The state-run Fars News Agency reported on December 8 that the use of heavy fuel oil (mazut) in the country’s power plants had risen sharply during the first fifteen days of the month.
According to the report, on November 22 and 23, power plants consumed 56 million and 54 million liters of mazut respectively. The peak occurred on December 2, with 88 million liters burned.
Ismail Kahrom, an ecologist and environmental activist—against whom Iran’s regime judiciary filed charges on December 8—had previously warned that mazut used in Iran contains “seven times the global standard” for sulfur, and that the gasoline used in the country is also “not suitable.”
He had said that if mazut is poured into water, all creatures “from microbes to whales” would be poisoned; if poured into soil, it contaminates groundwater; and if burned in the air, it is “100% carcinogenic.”
The darkest year for the capital’s air in two decades
Ali Pirhosseinlou, former adviser to the deputy mayor for transportation and traffic in Tehran, stated that based on two decades of air quality monitoring data, the capital’s air has never been “this dark.”
On December 9, Pirhosseinlou wrote in a piece for the state-run daily Shargh that 2025 is the worst year on record in terms of air pollution in Tehran.
He added that air quality data has been collected from numerous monitoring stations across Tehran for about twenty years, and never has the data told such a grim story.
Despite repeated closures of schools, universities, and sports facilities, the severe air pollution continues across many cities.
The lowest number of days with acceptable air quality
Pirhosseinlou also wrote that the number of days with “acceptable” air quality this year has broken a twenty-year record—dropping to “about one-third of all days in the year.”
He added that in recent years this figure had “fluctuated between two-thirds and three-quarters of the year’s days,” except in 2022 and 2024 when it dropped to about half, and in 2011 when it fell slightly below half—“but even then, conditions were never as bad as this year.”
The former Tehran municipal official added that two developments pushed Tehran’s air quality “beyond tolerable limits” over the past two decades: “One was 2011, when intensified sanctions led to the distribution of petrochemical gasoline and smog blanketed Tehran, and the other was 2022 and afterward, when pollutant management in the city was effectively abandoned.”
Tehran Municipality censored air-pollution data
Pirhosseinlou emphasized that the municipality has neither ideas nor plans for reducing traffic and controlling mobile pollution sources, shows no determination to modernize mass-transit and diesel fleets, offers no hope for improving fuel quality, and presents no outlook for controlling the rapidly aging vehicle fleet.
He accused the Tehran Municipality of “restricting access to information” related to air pollution.
According to him, while the public previously had open access to data on the Tehran Air Quality Control Company’s website, now individuals must submit at least “twelve fields of personal information” along with a written request, and only after official approval can they access the data.
Earlier, Somayeh Rafiei, head of the Environment Caucus in the regime’s parliament, had criticized the “lack of transparent information” and “censorship” of air-pollution data in Iran.
At least five thousand contract workers in twelve South Pars refineries went on strike and gathered in Asaluyeh in the largest labor protest in recent years. This gathering was held despite pressure and threats against the workers. South Pars is Iran’s largest gas hub and Asaluyeh is a major industrial zone in the south of the country.
The Council for Organizing Protests of Informal Oil Workers (Third Parties) reported that on Tuesday, December 9, these workers stopped working and, despite various threats, held a “magnificent march on the street leading to the Asaluyeh governor’s office.” This council represents informal and contract workers in the oil sector.
Similarly, the Free Union of Iranian Workers described this gathering as “one of the largest protest assemblies in the history of Iran’s oil industry over nearly the past five decades.”
While labor sources report the participation of at least five thousand contract workers in the strike and gathering, the state-run ILNA news agency omitted any mention of the number of protesters, and Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), merely wrote that “a group of workers” had taken part. ILNA is a government-controlled labor news outlet, and Fars is a major IRGC-linked propaganda agency.
The Council for Organizing Protests of Informal Oil Workers stated that one day before the gathering, extensive efforts were made to intimidate workers, including “direct messages from the South Pars Gas Complex public relations office sent to workers’ phones” and “direct threats from the security units of various refineries” warning them about the “consequences of attending.”
This point was also omitted in the reports published by ILNA and Fars.
According to the council, from early Tuesday morning, in addition to the South Pars entry points that have been controlled by the Special Zone Security since the twelve-day war, all entrances to Asaluyeh and the streets leading to the governor’s office were placed under the control of Iran’s regime police and security forces. Vehicles carrying workers were blocked from passing.
Despite this, contract workers and their families reached the gathering site on foot through various routes.
According to reports, the contract workers demanded “eliminating intermediary contractors, reforming the wage equalization system, revising and fully implementing the job classification plan, applying the rotation schedule of two weeks of work and two weeks of rest for administrative and support staff, and resolving the status of non-owner drivers of rental vehicles.”
Other demands included “regulating the status of safety support workers and enforcing labor law according to workplace norms, payment of camp allowance, and providing flight transportation conditions for workers.”
The council added that after the gathering ended, some security units prevented workers from entering the refineries, and several workers were summoned by the Special Zone Security and other regime security agencies.
Contract workers in Asaluyeh have repeatedly protested unmet demands. Most recently, on November 11, more than three thousand contract workers in the South Pars Gas Complex gathered in front of its central building in Asaluyeh.
Support of a labor syndicate for the South Pars contract workers’ protest
The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company announced on Tuesday that it “proudly and responsibly, in line with its class and trade duty,” supports the protest gathering of more than five thousand South Pars contract workers in Asaluyeh.
This independent labor organization, referring to the “clear slogans and completely legitimate and human demands” of the protest, called it “a clear symbol of the awareness, solidarity, and firm resolve of Iran’s working class to obtain its violated rights.”
Three days of strike in North Drilling Company
The Telegram channel “Afkar-e Naft” reported on Tuesday that a “three-day simultaneous strike took place in nine onshore and two offshore rigs of the North Drilling Company.”
The channel listed the workers’ demands as “payment of overdue wages and bonuses, establishment of supplementary insurance, signing official employment contracts, and dozens of other issues.”
According to the report, the main owners of the North Drilling Company are Energy Gostar Sina and the Mostazafan Foundation, a major economic arm of Iran’s regime.
Third day of strike by Shadgan Steel workers
The Free Union of Iranian Workers reported that the strike by Shadgan Steel workers in Khuzestan Province entered its third day on Tuesday.
According to the report, the strike began in protest of the employer’s broken promises regarding production bonuses and job classification.
In recent years, protests by workers and other wage earners in Iran have increased significantly. Causes include low wages, months-long nonpayment of wages and insurance contributions, privatization, layoffs, and the continued presence of intermediary contracting companies.
Iran’s regime has tried to stop the spread of such protests by intensifying security and judicial crackdowns, but due to the country’s severe economic crisis, it has failed to achieve this goal.
The brother of Khosro Alikordi, the deceased attorney, announced that security forces of Iran’s regime have confiscated all sixteen surveillance cameras from his brother’s office. He warned that if the complete footage from all cameras is not provided to the family in full, he will bring his brother’s case to international forums and demand justice.
At his brother’s memorial service, Javad Alikordi spoke about the uncertainties surrounding his death. He said that after his brother’s body was discovered, regime security forces removed all the surveillance cameras from his office, and despite the family’s repeated follow-ups, no footage has been shared with them.
He emphasized that discovering the truth about his brother’s death depends entirely on handing over complete and unedited footage to the family. He warned that if even “one second” of the videos is missing, he will no longer trust the judicial mechanisms of Iran’s regime and will not pursue the case through them.
In his remarks, the grieving brother said: “I peacefully declare that all sixteen cameras from the office must be given to us without any omissions, otherwise I will raise the cry for my brother’s blood in international forums.”
Alikordi’s body was found on the morning of December 6 in his office in the city of Mashhad. Many social media users, along with several lawyers and political and civil activists, described his death as a “state murder.”
On the social media platform X, this attorney had introduced himself as “the lawyer of the protesters of the nationwide 2022 movement, a former political prisoner, barred from pursuing a PhD in Public Law at the University of Tehran, and a flagged graduate student at Allameh University.”
On December 7, Iran Human Rights reported, quoting Alikordi’s relatives, that his body showed signs of bruising, head trauma, and blood coming from the nose and mouth. The family has still not been able to obtain the cameras or review their footage.
This human rights organization, noting the long record of Iran’s regime in killing political dissidents, artists, writers, and protesters—including political assassinations carried out by the Ministry of Intelligence in the 1990s known as the “Chain Murders”—called for the establishment of an independent international fact-finding commission to investigate the case.
A killing involving state institutions?
The suspicion that government bodies may have been involved in this killing is extremely serious. Since Iran’s regime lacks independent oversight or investigative mechanisms, and its officials are never held accountable nor provide transparency, only an independent international investigative commission can uncover the truth behind the suspicious death of Khosro Alikordi.
Hassan Hosseini, the governor of Mashhad, claimed that Alikordi “died” in his office on Friday evening due to a “heart attack.”
Statements by these security-aligned officials were met with strong reactions from civil activists and political prisoners inside Iran, many of whom held the regime responsible for Alikordi’s death.
A group of political and religious prisoners held in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison issued a joint message describing Alikordi’s death as “heartbreaking and suspicious,” offering condolences to his family.
In their message, they referred to him as an “independent, honorable, and compassionate lawyer” who had worked courageously for years defending the rights of political and religious prisoners.
Alikordi’s ambiguous death has once again intensified concerns about the personal safety of independent lawyers, civil activists, and critics of Iran’s regime. His case is one that his family, human rights organizations, and political prisoners insist must be investigated through independent and international channels.
The annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that Iran, with twenty-one imprisoned journalists and one disappeared, is among the countries with the highest number of jailed journalists.
Following China, Russia, and Myanmar—which top the list of countries with the most imprisoned journalists—Belarus, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Iran, Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia rank next
Thibaut Bruttin, Director-General of Reporters Without Borders, said on Tuesday, December 9, that crimes against journalists stem from governments’ impunity.
He added that the failure of international organizations to guarantee journalists’ protection in armed conflicts is the result of a global decline in governments’ courage to implement necessary public protection policies.
The new RSF report includes separate sections dedicated to journalists working in war zones, including Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, and Syria.
The organization warns that these environments have become increasingly deadly.
According to the report, about 43% of journalists killed in the past twelve months lost their lives in Gaza at the hands of Israeli armed forces.
The report emphasizes that in Ukraine, the Russian military continues to target both foreign and Ukrainian journalists.
Sudan is also described as one of the deadliest war zones for media workers.
Exiled journalists
RSF lists Iran among the ten countries with the highest number of exiled journalists. Afghanistan, Russia, Sudan, Belarus, Myanmar, El Salvador, and Kyrgyzstan also appear on this list, with Iran ranking fourth in terms of exiled journalists.
The report states that of more than forty media outlets supported by RSF’s assistance office in the past twelve months, nineteen belong to editorial teams from Afghanistan, Russia, Sudan, Iran, Belarus, Myanmar, El Salvador, and Kyrgyzstan, all of which continue operating in exile.
More than half of the journalists who sought emergency assistance from RSF in 2025 came from forty-four different countries and were forced to leave their homelands.
RSF has called for targeted sanctions against officials and institutions responsible for monitoring, repressing, and arresting journalists.
The situation of journalists in Iran
Following the nationwide 2022 protests in Iran—known globally as the Mahsa Amini uprising—media repression intensified significantly.
Social repression and the imposition of sweeping restrictions on journalists—especially after the twelve-day war—continue, with no sign of easing or opening of space.
UN experts have urged Iran’s regime to end the post-ceasefire repression and warned that the aftermath of the war must not be used as an opportunity to silence dissent and intensify crackdowns.
Over the past year, after events such as the explosion at Rajaei Port, the twelve-day war, and the activation of the snapback mechanism against Iran’s regime, many journalists were interrogated by various security bodies—especially the Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC—for content posted on social media.
